Brooklyn Museum Adds Four Members to Board of Trustees -ARTnews

The Brooklyn Museum.

COURTESY WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

James Chanos, Rona Citrin, Neil Simpkins, and Colleen Tompkins have been added to the Brooklyn Museum’s board of trustees, which now includes 39 members.

Chanos is the founder and managing partner of Kynikos Associates LP, a New York–based investment firm. He started the company in 1985 after working as a financial analyst at Paine Webber, Gilford Securities, and Deutsche Bank.

Having worked as vice president of Citigroup, Citrin now serves on the board of trustees for the Aspen Art Museum and the Anderson Ranch Arts Center in Snowmass, Colorado. She is also on the advisory council of the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. A collector of contemporary art, Citrin has advised nonprofit organizations including the Iris Cantorl Women’s Health Center at New York Presbyterian Hospital, the President’s Leadership Council at Dartmouth College, and the Guggenheim Museum’s Photography Committee.

Simpkins is senior managing director of Blackstone in the Private Equity Group, where he manages investments in healthcare services and industrial sectors. He also serves as director of Gates Corporation, Apria Healthcare Group, Summit Materials, Change Healthcare, and TeamHealth, and is chairman of Americans for Oxford Inc., Oxford University’s primary charitable organization in North America.

Tompkins consults with nonprofit education and social service organizations on public policy and legal matters, and is on the board of directors for Blue Engine, the Dodge YMCA, and Grace Church School in Brooklyn Heights. Previously, she practiced law as an Assistant District Attorney for New York County with a focus on domestic violence, sexual assault, and child abuse.

Barbara Vogelstein, chairman of the board of trustees, said of the new members in a statement, “They bring a wealth of varied experience and expertise that will further enhance and strengthen the position of the Brooklyn Museum at the forefront of the art world. The Museum is on an exciting trajectory and new board members such as these will help us advance our mission even faster.”